German Shepherd portrait on Fabriano Artistico paper

I started a new dog portrait last Thursday and decided to draw it on my newly-purchased Fabriano Artistico 140lb hot-pressed watercolour paper.

My first impressions of the paper is that it is a slightly smoother and much denser paper than my usual Strathmore Bristol Vellum. The colours layer beautifully and because it’s such a heavy weight I don’t feel like the tooth of the paper is flattening out as quickly as the bristol vellum, which was one of the issues I faced in my Knobbed Hornbill drawing. Not very far into this portrait yet so we’ll see how I feel about Fabriano Artistico further down the road but so far I’m very happy with it and I think it’s my new favourite paper!

Not a commission this time, just drawing for fun! Photo reference used with permission from Wildlifereferencephotos.com by photographer Sue Dudley.